Car shows have changed from being events for us aficionados to billion dollar venues covered by the regular media. “This is the Golf worth $1 million”, “Here’s the 800 horsepower electric supercar from Germany”… headlines fueled by nothing. About a third to a half of the most interesting unveilings are always the concepts, some supposedly previewing production models. They are 20% lighter, 50% stronger and much better looking than anything current on the market. If we were to believe everything these companies say, we would have flying cars that fold into a suitcase. Obviously, that hasn’t happened, so they must be lying to us.
The concept car is perhaps the biggest lie ever invented by man in order to sell cars and somebody has to say something about it. It’s not only misleading future car buyer but also hurting companies who create false expectations using billions in development money.
Let me give you a few examples. Daimler’s smart division has exactly one car (plus derivatives), one car that’s not selling very well and has limited appeal. Yet between 2011 and 2013, they launched no less than six concepts, some of them absolutely amazing. I don’t think any of them were justified, since previewing their future design language for 2014 way back in 2011 is absolutely pointless and stupid.
CEOs and board members spread false rumors just after motor shows which lead people to believe futuristic supercars will be built by normal brands. “Give us 2 or 3 years and it will be ready,” they say. What a load of…
Citroen, for example, has two supercar-like concept it’s designed and never built, the GT from 2008 and the Survolt from 2010. This is a company that has no best seller in any European car segment, from the smallest to the largest. What could they possibly do with a supercar concept when they don’t even make V8?
Two cars presented at 2014 Detroit Auto Show, little more than a week ago, make everything so palpable and painfully obvious. The 2015 Subaru WRX STI is the face of disappointment, looking nothing like the concept of last year. The Japanese automaker’s executives promised something amazing, something that looks nothing like an Impreza. What they gave us is $1 vanilla ice cream.
I know Subaru doesn’t have a lot of development money and they put the little they had into engineering, but I and a lot of WRX fans can’t help but feel gut-wrenching agony at the sight of those headlights. People are calling it the Honda Civic with a hood scoop and I can’t blame them!
Another cool car revealed in Detroit was the Kia GT4 Stinger. It stole the show, indicating just how far the Korean brand has come. Immediately, headlines started flying around that the Koreans are working on a Toyota GT 86 rival. It looks positively delicious in its yellow paint and reminds me of an 80s American coupe. Signs coming from Kia are that they desperately want to build it and the whole Internet is buzzing with encouragement.
It’s probably all for nothing though, as I think all of Kia’s money has to go into the new Optima, the new Sorento, the new Sportage and a minivan. Making a sportscar that will maybe sell 20,000 examples a year is pointless.
This being said, I think we should all show our appreciation for car companies that put concepts on dealer’s lots. For me, two names stand head-above-shoulders, Honda and BMW. The i8 looks exactly like the concept, the M4 looks exactly like the concept and I could go on for days. Believe it or not, Honda is also worthy of praise. Their NSX concept will be pretty much unchanged when going into production. In fact it will be even cooler because twin turbos have just been added to the mix.
Let me give you a few examples. Daimler’s smart division has exactly one car (plus derivatives), one car that’s not selling very well and has limited appeal. Yet between 2011 and 2013, they launched no less than six concepts, some of them absolutely amazing. I don’t think any of them were justified, since previewing their future design language for 2014 way back in 2011 is absolutely pointless and stupid.
CEOs and board members spread false rumors just after motor shows which lead people to believe futuristic supercars will be built by normal brands. “Give us 2 or 3 years and it will be ready,” they say. What a load of…
Citroen, for example, has two supercar-like concept it’s designed and never built, the GT from 2008 and the Survolt from 2010. This is a company that has no best seller in any European car segment, from the smallest to the largest. What could they possibly do with a supercar concept when they don’t even make V8?
Two cars presented at 2014 Detroit Auto Show, little more than a week ago, make everything so palpable and painfully obvious. The 2015 Subaru WRX STI is the face of disappointment, looking nothing like the concept of last year. The Japanese automaker’s executives promised something amazing, something that looks nothing like an Impreza. What they gave us is $1 vanilla ice cream.
I know Subaru doesn’t have a lot of development money and they put the little they had into engineering, but I and a lot of WRX fans can’t help but feel gut-wrenching agony at the sight of those headlights. People are calling it the Honda Civic with a hood scoop and I can’t blame them!
Another cool car revealed in Detroit was the Kia GT4 Stinger. It stole the show, indicating just how far the Korean brand has come. Immediately, headlines started flying around that the Koreans are working on a Toyota GT 86 rival. It looks positively delicious in its yellow paint and reminds me of an 80s American coupe. Signs coming from Kia are that they desperately want to build it and the whole Internet is buzzing with encouragement.
It’s probably all for nothing though, as I think all of Kia’s money has to go into the new Optima, the new Sorento, the new Sportage and a minivan. Making a sportscar that will maybe sell 20,000 examples a year is pointless.
This being said, I think we should all show our appreciation for car companies that put concepts on dealer’s lots. For me, two names stand head-above-shoulders, Honda and BMW. The i8 looks exactly like the concept, the M4 looks exactly like the concept and I could go on for days. Believe it or not, Honda is also worthy of praise. Their NSX concept will be pretty much unchanged when going into production. In fact it will be even cooler because twin turbos have just been added to the mix.
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